sham

¹sham

noun \ˈsham\

Definition of SHAM

1

: a trick that deludes : hoax <feared that the deal was a sham>

2

: cheap falseness : hypocrisy <saw through the hollowness, the sham, the silliness of the empty pageant — Oscar Wilde>

3

: an ornamental covering for a pillow

4

: an imitation or counterfeit purporting to be genuine

5

: a person who shams

Examples of SHAM

1. He claims that the trial was a sham.
2. Their marriage was a sham.
3. Many people believed he could help them, but I knew he was a sham.
4. She exposed their sham and hypocrisy.

Origin of SHAM

perhaps from English dialect sham shame, alteration of English shame

First Known Use: 1677

Related to SHAM

Synonyms

caricature, cartoon, farce, joke, parody, mockery, travesty

Related Words

burlesque, comedy; lampoon, takeoff; counterfeit, fake, feigning, forgery, hoax, humbug, knockoff, phony (also phoney), pretense (or pretence), mockery, simulation

Near Antonyms

homage, tribute

See Synonym Discussion at imposture

Other Household Terms

cruet, curiosity, duvet, fiasco, taper, valance, whatnot

Rhymes with SHAM

bam, cam, clam, cram, dam, damn, drachm, dram, DRAM, flam, gam, gram, ham, Ham, jam, jamb, lam, lamb, ma'am, pram, ram, RAM, Sam, SAM, scam, scram, slam, spam, tam, tram, wham, yam

²sham

adjective

Definition of SHAM

1

: not genuine : false, feigned

2

: having such poor quality as to seem false

Examples of SHAM

1. <a sofa upholstered in sham leather>
2. <street vendors selling sham designer handbags to gullible tourists>

First Known Use of SHAM

1681

Related to SHAM

Synonyms

artificial, bogus, dummy, ersatz, factitious, fake, false, faux, imitative, man-made, mimic, mock, pretend, imitation, simulated, substitute, synthetic

Antonyms

genuine, natural, real

Related Words

cultured, manufactured, process; unauthentic; adulterated, designer, doctored, engineered, fudged, juggled, manipulated, tampered (with); concocted, fabricated; counterfeit, deceptive, forged, fraudulent, misleading, phony (also phoney); affected, brummagem, feigned, pinchbeck, pseudo, spurious

Near Antonyms

authentic, bona fide, legitimate, true; premium, quality, valuable; pure, unadulterated

³sham

verb

shammedsham·ming

Definition of SHAM

transitive verb

: to go through the external motions necessary to counterfeit

intransitive verb

: to act intentionally so as to give a false impression : feign

— sham·mer \ˈsha-mər\ noun

Examples of SHAM

1. She wasn't really hurt; she was only shamming.
2. He was shamming illness to avoid work.

First Known Use of SHAM

1739

Related to SHAM

Synonyms

act, affect, assume, bluff, counterfeit, dissemble, fake, pass (for), pretend, profess, put on, feign, simulate

Related Words

dissimulate, impersonate, let on, masquerade, play, playact, pose; forge, imitate; camouflage, conceal, disguise, mask; feint; malinger

See Synonym Discussion at assume

sham

adjective \ˈsham\   (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of SHAM

: being a treatment or procedure that is performed as a control and that is similar to but omits a key therapeutic element of the treatment or procedure under investigation <sham surgery, in which doctors make an incision in a patient's knee and manipulate the joint, but don't clean out fluid, debris, and torn cartilage—Liz Kowalczyk> <a sham injection of saline solution>